A world of dreams or a dream world?

I haven't posted on this blog in a while, but that does not mean I haven't had any interesting dreams. This post, however, isn't about any particular dream, but more about something that googling hasn't helped me with in the least (or maybe I just wanted to make a post about it and really I'm just being lazy).

So, for a long time, probably ever since I was a child, I've had reoccurring dreams. The only thing about these dreams is that they all take place inside their own world, or setting that is consistent from dream to dream. Sometimes even the people in the dreams are the same, and even some situations.

For example, say I dream about a lush tropical island with a few people that you can remember, at least their faces. We can have an adventure on this island, like a volcano will erupt or a storm will blow in. Maybe even vampires attack us, just whatever. I will have this dream again eight years later, but I will remember the entire dream and change it because I know what is going on and I want to change the outcome. Sometimes I will even try to tell the other people "hey you should probably move or you'll die".

I have these dream worlds or dream places that are so familiar to me that I can navigate in them, I even have favorite places that I used to wish that I would go when I went to sleep. One in particular is a place where a shallow looking river runs through this dark forest. Sometimes I walk alongside this river or I ride down it on a log or something. I have memories of this forest, how it looks when I look up to the sky and see the sun showing through the branches, and how thick, lush and uninhabited this place seems. The river twists and turns and has rapids and seems to go on forever.

Sometimes even these places are linked to each other, and I can sometimes go from one place to the next by following the path I took previously. There is a bridge in one dream that crosses over this huge body of water. I think it is either a bay or a large lake. This bridge takes me to a forest where there is a lake where there are a lot of abandoned houses and the land slopes down to the shores. Usually there are a lot of people playing in the lake, children and people in boats.

If I walk along one street it will take me to this one house that is just...creepy. It is old, and rotting with roots and tangled vines growing in and around it. I believe it is haunted. Anytime I visit this house I end up running from something and I have to escape from the top floor. It is not a good place to be. If I choose to walk down beside the lake, I can follow the edge of the lake and end up on a foot path that will lead to a couple of places; one of them being a sort of hilly clearing in the forest that I think has a couple of houses in it. One of them is up on a hill and is very nice. There is a small pond below it and ducks. Somewhere nearby is another smaller house. I think this one is empty. There is something about this house but I can't remember what it is at the moment.

In any case, it would be hard to remember this stuff if I had not dreamed about it several times. Each time I visit my places, I make concious decisions as to where I want to go and what I want to do.. But, not all of the places I dream about are non-existent. I dream a lot of my childhood houses. The first house is big, brown and located in the woods far away from people. I usually either end up staying inside, or wandering in the woods around the house. If I stay inside, there is usually a reason why, such as tornadoes or something that is after me. This isn't usually the case though. I'm usually outside and wandering around, sometimes as a wolf or as myself as I am in my dreams. The other house is located in a neighborhood and subject to different rules I suppose. I am hardly ever inside the house. I am usually outside and usually either trying to get home or I'm lost on one of the nearby streets trying to get back home. The neighborhood in my dreams is also consistent, with one of them ending up by a lake (there isn't one like that nearby). There is also usually a house right next to ours on a hill overlooking our yard. I think this house is abandoned but beautiful.

I have no idea what other people dream about, but I have a theme my dreams usually follow. Well, I say a theme but there are several themes. One is wandering or being lost. I'm trying to find my way home. I don't think I ever do find my way home. There is never really ever a sense of panic. Another theme is forest and water or both. Most of my dreams contain these two things. As for animals or symbols, I usually only see wolves, turtles, cats and fish. I never really have dreams that are well, meaningless, no dreams of going shopping or finding a million dollars. I've had dreams like that, but only when I was very little.

The only dreams I've had that are not reoccurring but I know mean something or are definite messages of some sort are the paranormal dreams. These dreams are usually something like me inside my house with something chasing me. Whatever is chasing me isn't visible nor is it anything like you would imagine or see in a movie. It's slamming doors, creaking walls, things flying off the wall at me. It's a sense of dread and panic as you are trying to get away from whatever this is, but knowing there is no where to hide because it can just come through the walls to you. It's hard to explain or even express house terrifying these dreams are. I've experienced very few paranormal things in my life, and I'm always a bit of a skeptic. These dreams usually come right after I have one of my sudden urges to see and hear or sense paranormal things (because I don't...at least I think I don't). It's like something is saying "Well, if you get what you ask for, can you handle this feeling or a situation like this?" and after that I say (and still say) no, even though I wish I were more sensitive, honestly I think I'm much better off the way I am.

It seems lately I've been dreaming of people that seem familiar but I've never met them before in this life. I feel comfortable and happy with them, as if I'm meeting them again after a long separation. These dreams are really the reason why I'm writing this whole blog post which looks like a bunch of ramblings by now.

I can have normal dream interpretations or I can have alternative explanation for this all. Really, I would like to know if anyone can relate to all this, and maybe even shed some insight on to why I have dreams that are like this.